The City of Berkeley’s Harbor Patrol under the direction of Marina Supervisor Stephen Bogner towed the “Orange Arches” plastic flotation structure out of the North Basin this morning. The device, belonging to self-described boatwright Elise Brewster, had been parked illegally in the North Basin since February 20 after being evicted from the Berkeley Marina. Leading members of the Sierra Club, the Golden Gate Audubon Society, Citizens for Eastshore State Parks and this website urged its removal. Eastshore State Parks Police played a role in accelerating the action. The device, a thin plastic inflatable, lost pressure and partially deflated in cold weather, all but collapsing overnight. The purpose of the device remains unknown. Harbor Patrol towed it provisionally to a boat ramp in the Marina berthing area, with an invoice to Brewster, pending Brewster’s deflating it and removing it from the water.

Due to frigid temperatures, the device partially deflated and collapsed on March 4